XUV 500 niggles and their solutions

This is a discussion on XUV 500 niggles and their solutions within Technical Stuff, part of the Under the Hood category; Update on Turbo issue :
Been busy on work so I couldn't post the progress on turbo issue faced last ...

Been busy on work so I couldn't post the progress on turbo issue faced last month. As reported earlier, the turbo was replaced in my car.

Turbo being dismantled from the rear side of the engine:

Old turbo unit is separated from engine:

This unit is BorgWarner BV43 variant manufactured by TEL in India (A TVS subsidiary ). Same has been used in Jetta 2.0 TDI and many other 2 - 2.5 L engines across the world. The oil spill around the turbo housing is WD40 sprayed by the technician to loosen the bolts. There is no external damage observed.

New unit:

It took approximate 3 hours to dismantle the unit and 1 hour to fix the new one. For replacing turbo they had to remove catalytic converter, Air filter intake manifold and the inter cooler.

After the repair the turbo is very audible in my car. Did a quick test drive on highway the Infotainment was showing a mileage of 18/KMPL(With AC on and 2 adults on board):
This snap is after a 80 Kms run with mostly cruise set to 90 and occasional stops at highway signals.

In crowded city driving conditions observed 12 - 13.5 kmpl (mostly 1 and 2 gear and occasionally 3rd). The power delivery is just awesome now.

Connected the ODB again and tested the boost pressure. The max observed was 20.56 psi, which is a huge difference from my previous tests.

Also a couple of more visits to fix the alignment issue. Finally they managed to fix the pull to left and steering off-centre. Hope it stays that way.

Been busy on work so I couldn't post the progress on turbo issue faced last month. As reported earlier, the turbo was replaced in my car.

HCP what I remember from your earlier posts on this issue was that it was only after you drove the loaner vehicle that you felt that in your car the power was low and hence started the OBD on the turbo. Hope I am right in my recollection.

With the in-effective turbo, what kind of mileage (do you keep tankfull data? DIS errs heavily on the higher side) were you getting and what was the highest speed that you were able to reach?

HCP what I remember from your earlier posts on this issue was that it was only after you drove the loaner vehicle that you felt that in your car the power was low and hence started the OBD on the turbo. Hope I am right in my recollection.

With the in-effective turbo, what kind of mileage (do you keep tankfull data? DIS errs heavily on the higher side) were you getting and what was the highest speed that you were able to reach?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

The first time I felt lack of power was on the way to Kerala while crossing a ghat section. In an hairpin bend I had to shift to first to get the vehicle moving. Within city limits the DIS used to show 9 kmpl, which is a softlimit in the software. so i am sure it was worst than that. And I was told by some technicians that vehicle will emit white smoke if turbo fails. Surprisingly this symptom was also not present.

When I drove the loaner car for the first time the difference in power was felt instantaneously. Especially in second gear. While crossing speed breakers if I don't shift down to first, the engine used to shudder a lot in my car and sometime stalls. That behaviour was not present in the loaner vehicle. to confirm i drove a team mates vehicle and also let him try my car. Both of us felt there is something wrong in my car. But before checking with odb i was guessing that it was the signs of notorious clutch issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surprise

Any clues how did they managed to do it? May be some tips to the local service center can help many going through this problem

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitinralli

+1

Even i would like to know how this "miracle" happen. If we know the trick, maybe we can get it done from a local shop instead of going all the way to service station.

What they told is issue fixed by aligning the wheels. But then there was no convincing answer to my question why it didn't fix the issue for the previous 4 alignments. I could see they rotated the wheels and that is the only visible change. After the alignment was corrected the steering off-Center issue was still there. To correct it they removed the bottom part of the steering universal joint and shifted left by 2 milling. What the technician explained is, this is due to steering correction was done without proper alignment earlier, by removing the steering and moving it by one or two milling. So now it has to be corrected the same way. But I don't think they really did something that is replicable. Most likely they did trial and error until it moves straight, since I insisted to keep the car until this is fixed.

The first time I felt lack of power was on the way to Kerala while crossing a ghat section. In an hairpin bend I had to shift to first to get the vehicle moving. Within city limits the DIS used to show 9 kmpl, which is a softlimit in the software. so i am sure it was worst than that. And I was told by some technicians that vehicle will emit white smoke if turbo fails. Surprisingly this symptom was also not present.

When I drove the loaner car for the first time the difference in power was felt instantaneously. Especially in second gear. While crossing speed breakers if I don't shift down to first, the engine used to shudder a lot in my car and sometime stalls. That behaviour was not present in the loaner vehicle. to confirm i drove a team mates vehicle and also let him try my car. Both of us felt there is something wrong in my car. But before checking with odb i was guessing that it was the signs of notorious clutch issue.

HCP

HCP, I face some of the symptoms with my car too.. The mileage was mostly 9kmpl in my DIS for the past few months. After complaining about the same, an air filter cleaning was done, post which it went upto 9.8kmpl and has been on the downward since then, currently at 9.6kmpl. I also need to shift to 1st gear on most occasions while riding over humps as 2nd gear would require more clutch to avoid stalling of the vehicle. No white smoke, but then the exhaust gases smelt different wrt to my earlier diesel Accent and Innova. For the past few months the exhaust had been smelling a little more tangy and the mileage also had been showing as 9kmpl for the same time. I mentioned that to the RM also checking if there was some relation between the two.

But then I have also been able to touch 160km+ speeds recently. I dont have an OBD in hand to check out the readings. And unless I drive another XUV, I would never know in terms of experience. So how can I get the service centre folks to get the turbo checked out. I remember your earlier posts about the difficulties you had faced regarding convincing them.

Reading your symptoms, I am scared and till I get some solid proof wrt the turbo in my car, it going to be in my head day and night.

HCP, I face some of the symptoms with my car too.. The mileage was mostly 9kmpl in my DIS for the past few months. After complaining about the same, an air filter cleaning was done, post which it went upto 9.8kmpl and has been on the downward since then, currently at 9.6kmpl. I also need to shift to 1st gear on most occasions while riding over humps as 2nd gear would require more clutch to avoid stalling of the vehicle. No white smoke, but then the exhaust gases smelt different wrt to my earlier diesel Accent and Innova. For the past few months the exhaust had been smelling a little more tangy and the mileage also had been showing as 9kmpl for the same time. I mentioned that to the RM also checking if there was some relation between the two.

But then I have also been able to touch 160km+ speeds recently. I dont have an OBD in hand to check out the readings. And unless I drive another XUV, I would never know in terms of experience. So how can I get the service centre folks to get the turbo checked out. I remember your earlier posts about the difficulties you had faced regarding convincing them.

Reading your symptoms, I am scared and till I get some solid proof wrt the turbo in my car, it going to be in my head day and night.

FundaG

Turbo is not something that can fail very easily. In my vehicle most likely the VGT control mechanism is what created the problem as I was getting some amount of boost at high Revs. This kind of situation is very difficult to trace since you don't find drastic power loss / mileage difference. We can do sound observation etc, but cant really confirm the problem. I never had problem in attaining 100+ kmph speed on express highways, but it takes a little longer(+5 seconds at least). So the best method is connecting an ODB and check. I see you are in Bangalore, we can meet up and do a trail run with ODB connected if that gives you peace of mind

[quote]The yellow wire in the pic is the brake pad thickness sensor wire. It got cut on my car about a year ago. Like the RM said, it's a very common issue./QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossiter

My car just got picked up for service as well........ My RM is still insisting that there is no change in brake pedal design.

Well my vehicle gave me the "Front brake pad worn" warning some time in December, after I had clocked close to 20K. Has the same checked and they replaced the pads saying that the yellow wire had in fact been cut/damaged. However they installed 3rd of 4th generation "Bosch" pads.
Ever since that day I found the braking not as sharp as earlier, and have been complaining regarding the same repeatedly. Twice they have "cleaned/ purged" the system. This last time (19th )returning from Hazira, during the rains I found the brakes very spongy/ not holding. So sent the vehicle to G3 motors Mumbai(my regular service station) to have the pads and pedal replaced.
RM and Works manager claim that the pads on my vehicle are the Galfer - In his words (sms recd) - brake pad is of galfer only ...its is material ...make is of bosc only... This is ridiculous! I know that Galfer is an Australian company and they make brake pads(have them on my F650. He says to use the car and if it is still a problem he will change!
I think this is playing with someones life!

He must be trying his luck to get away with hos job. Galfer break pads are different than bosch. If you see below, breakpads doesnt have bosch writen on them also design is different. Also posting pic of new pedal.

He must be trying his luck to get away with hos job. Galfer break pads are different than bosch. If you see below, breakpads doesnt have bosch writen on them also design is different. Also posting pic of new pedal.

So the best method is connecting an ODB and check. I see you are in Bangalore, we can meet up and do a trail run with ODB connected if that gives you peace of mind

Did a ODB check of my car with HCP today and the peace of mind is back.

Turbo is working fine as per the boost graphs. Slightly lower boost, but HCP figured out the reason so that I can take it up with the service the next time round and improve the boost. Additionally since HCP drove my car, came to know the brakes are still spongy and less confidence inspiring compared to HCP's car. Also on checking the horn, realised it has broken and was lying on the belt. I had asked my RM to replace the horn bracket 2 weeks back, but he had mentioned it was in very good condition and did not show any sign of falling off. And in less than 2 weeks its broken....

Come to think of it, how come my friend has a different style of pads than mine?? If you look at it, the design is different from first pic that is my friends 2012 model and later is mine. Interesting haan.

Dont know if you can make out, but his pads does not have those lines which i have below. Now i am confused which ones are Galfer ones. His or mine?